Thomas survives thrilling finale to win Paris-Nice

Holding onto his Paris-Nice GC lead through the race's thrilling final stage, Geraint Thomas earned the opportunity to stand atop the podium above a pair of former winners. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

His GC bid appeared to be in serious doubt for several minutes Sunday, but Geraint Thomas survived a grueling battle with Alberto Contador in the seventh and final stage of Paris-Nice to seal the overall victory.

Contador (Tinkoff) kept the pressure high all day long, attacking on the penultimate climb of the stage and then again on the final categorized ascent, the Col d’Èze — but race leader Geraint Thomas (Sky) stayed calm under fire. Although the 29-year-old spent some nerve-racking moments off the back of the main group of GC hopefuls and well behind an attacking Contador with only teammate Sergio Henao for company, he ultimately rejoined the group and then regained enough ground on Contador to maintain control of the yellow jersey.

Tim Wellens of Lotto – Soudal won the stage, having jumped clear of the peloton at the start of the action as a member of the early breakaway. Contador crossed the line on the same time as Wellens for runner-up honors on the day, with BMC’s Richie Porte just behind to take third in both the stage and the general classification.

Top 10, stage 7

1. Tim WELLENS, LOTTO SOUDAL, in 3:16:09

2. Alberto CONTADOR VELASCO, TINKOFF, at :00

3. Richie PORTE, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00

4. Tony GALLOPIN, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :05

5. Simon YATES, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :05

6. Arnold JEANNESSON, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :05

7. Rui Alberto FARIA DA COSTA, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at :05

8. Jesus HERRADA LOPEZ, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :05

9. Romain BARDET, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :05

10. Jon IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :05

Top 10 overall

1. Geraint THOMAS, TEAM SKY, in 27:26:40

2. Alberto CONTADOR VELASCO, TINKOFF, at :04

3. Richie PORTE, BMC RACING TEAM, at :12

4. Ilnur ZAKARIN, TEAM KATUSHA, at :20

5. Jon IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :37

6. Sergio Luis HENAO MONTOYA, TEAM SKY, at :44

7. Simon YATES, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :44

8. Tony GALLOPIN, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :51

9. Romain BARDET, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 1:00

10. Rui Alberto FARIA DA COSTA, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 1:07

Having earned the yellow jersey in Saturday’s stage 6, Thomas took a 15-second lead over Contador into the start of the 134km stage 7, but opportunities for bonus seconds left the Welshman with little margin for error.

Shortly after the peloton rolled out from Nice, a 19-rider breakaway group got clear inside the first 20km, with Wellens in among the escapees. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto – Soudal) and Antoine Duchesne (Direct Énergie) provided much of the action up the road as they vied for king of the mountains points, a competition ultimately won by Duchesne.

As the lumpy stage wore on, many of the breakaway began to tire, thinning out the group.

When the peloton hit the Côte de Peille, hostilities erupted in the peloton as Contador launched a powerful attack that immediately distanced a pursuing Team Sky. He linked up with a pair of Tinkoff riders who had been in the initial breakaway and pressed his advantage out to 50 seconds before being reeled in by a dogged Sky train on the descent, but he did not stop there.

Contador again went on the attack on the Col d’Èze, the final categorized climb of the race, putting in one dig after another. After five accelerations off the front, he was finally able to gap Thomas, his trusty lieutenant Henao, and the rest of the GC hopefuls, with the exception of defending champion Porte who made it onto Contador’s wheel.

Porte and Contador linked up with Wellens, the last survivor of the early breakaway, and pushed on trying to increase the gap. Meanwhile, Thomas found himself unable to hold the pace in a group that contained other podium hopefuls like stage 6 winner Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha).

The race leader drifted backwards, staring down a 30-second gap to Contador, but Henao ensured that he was not left alone, and the two worked in tandem to make up ground. Joining forces with Tony Gallopin (Lotto – Soudal), they gradually bridged back to Zakarin’s group, making the catch on the descent. From there, it was ten against three on the run to the line, and the larger group slowly but surely ate away at the gap.

“When [Contador] went on the Peille at first, I stuck with the team. I felt good and I felt strong and in control. But when he went halfway up the Col d’Èze my legs just gave way. It was horrible,” Thomas said.

“I thought I was going to struggle to stay on the podium, but Sergio stayed with me. I had a 54 chainring on for the descent, in case I had to chase, and I certainly needed that in the end. It was just full gas and to finally catch back in the last few km, it was just really good.”

The advantage that Contador, Porte, and Wellens had over their pursuers diminished over the final few kilometers, but with bonus seconds at the line Thomas could not afford to let up.

Porte led the escape trio into the finishing stretch, and then Wellens launched past on his right with Contador in tow. Contador dug deep to overtake the Belgian, but Wellens was not to be denied his stage victory after spending nearly the entire day off the front of the peloton.

Thomas’ group arrived at the line five seconds after Contador, good enough to give Thomas the overall Paris-Nice victory by four seconds.

“It’s incredible, it’s hard to believe to be honest,” said Thomas. “It’s Contador man, he’s one of the of best stage racers ever. Richie, he won nearly every race he did last year. To beat those two, I can’t really believe it.

“I obviously came here trying to win and do the best I could, but to actually do it, it’s the biggest win for sure of my career. I’m over the moon.”

Contador was noticeably disappointed at the podium presentation, but took some positives out of his impressive ride in the final stage.

“When we lost [stage 4] due to the snow, I lost a big chance to try to take time to win this race, so we had to look at new ways to try to win the overall,” he said. “We knew if we waited until the final climb, it would be too late. We made a nice try.

“It’s a shame I didn’t win, but I am happy with how I am performing. This gives me confidence for the coming races.”

Thomas, Contador, and Porte are likely to meet again at the end of the month at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, though newly crowned Paris-Nice champion may have to share leadership duties with Sky teammate Chris Froome in Spain.